


Rumble

by anneapocalypse



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Drug Use, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 18:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8338753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anneapocalypse/pseuds/anneapocalypse
Summary: Kimball has some qualms about the particulars of one of Carolina's armor enhancements. Set sometime early in season 13, before Kimball and Carolina deploy on their respective missions.Mention of substance abuse/addiction and background character deaths.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Rumbledrugs had become notorious in the sporadic colonial insurrections. Notably on Hellas and Fumirole. On both worlds, they‘d been used by rebels in a vainglorious attempt to fight Spartan-IIs. The drugs were certainly fearsome. The effect on human physiology was impressive in the short term. Unencumbered by the body‘s normal safety limits, subjects were capable of feats of enormous strength, but the subsequent lack of control and mental instability together with the immediate physiological damage meant that users often died long before they ever laid hands on an actual Spartan. But not before doing tremendous damage to themselves and anything that got in their way.
> 
> - “Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian,” Halo Evolution

“What is that?”

“Just part of my armor enhancement.” Carolina gives her an odd look, her hands pausing in the act of slotting the acrid yellow vial into her armor.

“Is that a _rumbledrug?_ ”

“I need it to run the speed unit,” Carolina says. There it is. The note of defensiveness that makes Kimball’s stomach drop.

“ _This_ is what they had you on, in Freelancer?”

“Not exactly, no.” Carolina shrugs, painfully casual, but still eyeing her. “Closest approximation I could get, on—”

“On the black market,” Kimball finishes.

Carolina’s eyes narrow. “You do understand that I can’t run the unit without this, right? I ran out of the standard-issue cocktail years ago. Look, it’s not some outerworld Innie garbage—” Vanessa flinches “—or whatever you’re thinking of. It’s safe.”

_“Safe?”_

Carolina exhales. “Safer. I had it specially made. Vanessa, _listen_ to me.” She puts a hand on Kimball’s shoulder and now it’s Kimball who tenses, but the touch is gentler than she expects. “It’s not what you’re thinking of, okay? I’m not gonna drop dead on the field. I promise. I’ve been using it for years.”

“That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

Carolina’s hand drops to her side, and she cocks her head, exasperated. “You think I’m a junkie. Is that it?”

Kimball doesn’t answer for a minute, which is a minute too long.

“Right.” Carolina’s face closes off, and she yanks the vial out of her armor again, a little too angrily for Kimball’s liking. “If that’s what you think, then take it. Not supposed to run anyway. Doc’s orders, remember?”

She doesn’t take the vial. “Oh, so now you’re sticking to that?”

“Vanessa, _why_ are you being like this?”

“Because I’ve seen it!” She can feel her voice rising. “You think we never got that desperate out here? You think Felix couldn’t get his hands on whatever chem cocktail anyone could pay for?” It’s choking her up, grief and anger in equal quantities, and she hates that, the rise in pitch, and how she wears it all over her damn face—broadcasting that she’s losing her cool. “We lost two kids on the first batch, and I do mean kids—sixteen and seventeen, if you’re wondering. That was early on. We lost another three even after the General banned the shit. And don’t tell me ‘take it’ like this is all you’ve got, I won’t be lied to and I _won’t_ stand by and watch my people kill themselves on black market speed and make Felix’s job that much _fucking_ easier.”

Carolina’s face doesn’t open up again, but she doesn’t take her eyes off Kimball. “You done?”

Vanessa exhales sharply. “I’ve said my piece, yes.”

“Then I need you to answer a question for me.” Carolina’s fingers curl closed over the vial again. “If it comes down to it, if it’s a call between running that unit and letting somebody die—what do you want me to do, _General?_ ”

That’s not fair, Vanessa thinks, either the question or the acerbic way her title slides off the Freelancer’s tongue. And she knows, after everything, how pointless it is to say _That’s not fair_. It’s not, and nothing is, and her own adrenaline is dissipating fast. Too fast. Sometimes, she wishes it didn’t go like that.

“That’s not fair, Carolina,” she says, quietly.

Carolina’s jaw snaps shut. She inhales through her nose, releases. “You’re right. It wasn’t. Sorry.”

“You done?” Vanessa says pointedly.

That one lands. Carolina blinks a couple of times, and a flicker of what looks suspiciously like sheepishness crosses her face. “Yeah. I’m done.”

“I would… like it if you used the unit as a last resort.” Vanessa takes a deep breath. “Given your injury alone, that’s not an unreasonable request. But I leave it as your call.”

Carolina’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really.”

“Yes.”

“After all that.”

“Yes. You’re telling me that you’re familiar with the drug and that you know how to use it safely. And frankly, you don’t act like someone who’s addicted, so... I’m asking you to exercise your best possible judgment.” She hesitates, then adds, “Please.”

A furrow has formed in Carolina’s brow, but she nods. “You got it.”

“After all that?”

“Life or death,” Carolina says, nods, and the acid snap of her green eyes softens, just a little, and she half-smiles, and Vanessa breathes out, feeling the anxious stutter of her heart slow down. 


End file.
